It is well known td use a balloon catheter to intraluminally deliver and implant a stent. Typically, to implant a stent with a balloon catheter, the unexpanded stent is disposed around the deflated balloon of a balloon catheter. The balloon is then delivered to the desired implantation site and inflated. The inflation of the balloon expands the stent, implanting it at the desired location.
One shortcoming of conventional balloon catheters is that they may cause the ends of the stent to flare out during implantation. This flaring out is referred to as “dogboning”. Dogboning causes at least two undesirable effects. First, dogboning exacerbates any foreshortening of the stent during expansion. Second, dogboning causes the edges of the end of the stent to project in a direction perpendicular to the wall of the vessel in which the stent is being implanted. These projecting edges potentially increase trauma to the wall of the lumen.